Historical Dictionary of Terrorism Third Edition

UNABOMBER • 687UNABOMBER. Theodore J. Kaczynski (1942– ), better known as“Ted” Kaczynski, was the “Unabomber” responsible for 16 mailedparcel-bomb attacks from 25 May 1978 to 24 April 1995 that killedthree people and maimed 23 others. These bombings were motivatedto protect the natural world and promote a nonindustrial anarchisticworld in which small autonomous groups and individuals wouldreplace governments and other conventional social institutions. Toachieve this, Kaczynski believed he had to destroy industrial societyby targeting key academics, computer professionals, and businessexecutives in technology-intensive fields. His initial selection ofuniversity and airline targets led the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation(FBI) to designate him as the Unabomber.Kaczynski’s bombs were meticulously crafted, and all detonatorcomponents were handmade, making tracing of them through knownsuppliers and outlets impossible. He also carved the initials “FC” oneach bomb and used a nine-digit code name in his letters to allowauthorities to authenticate messages sent in his name against possiblecopycat actions by others. Apparently he also assembled and dissembledeach bomb several times to ensure it would work properlyand took care to avoid leaving fingerprints.His first bombings were in the Chicago area: the Engineeringdepartment parking lot on 25 May 1978 and the TechnologicalInstitute on 9 May 1979, both located at Northwestern Universityin Evanston. Another bomb on 15 November 1979 caught firein the cargo hold of a Boeing 727 plane, requiring it to make anemergency landing at Dulles Airport. As an attempted bombingof an airliner is a federal offense, this incident brought the Unabombercase under the jurisdiction of the FBI. Another bombingof an airline executive on 10 June 1980 resulted in injury; anotherbomb was safely deactivated at the University of Utah on 8 October1981. A metal pipe bomb injured a professor of electrical engineeringand computer science at the University of California–Berkeleyon 2 July 1982. A parcel bomb mailed to the Fabrication divisionof Boeing in Auburn, Washington, was safety deactivated on 8May 1985. Another bomb at the University of California–Berkeleycampus maimed and partially blinded a graduate student on 15 May1985, while another bomb-rigged package exploded at VanderbiltUniversity in Tennessee when it was opened by a secretary in thecomputer department on 5 May 1982.